#Not tagging the book because it might have an audience somewhere / here - I'm just not it

[birdylion]

Some day I'm going to write a story in which the readers are rewarded for having good knowledge of weather. Like, the characters need to travel somewhere through the mountains in a high stakes situation, and in the chapters leading up to that, I already put in enough information about how it rained a few days earlier or sth similar that a reader who knows this stuff and knows about the characters' abilities and equipment can already form a reasonable guess as to how it might work out, or be extra aware of the dangers involved.

[sward-iak]

Intro Post!

Hello! Some of you may know me from somewhere else, and to that (unless you're a super close friend of years now) I say nay! You do not!

I am a in my 20s concept art/writer hobbyist. I work a full 40 hours with week, sometimes with overtime (so if I'm MIA, that's why!). When I'm not at work though I thoroughly enjoy reading, writing, drawing, playing video games, and hanging out with my family/friends!

Writeblr/Main: @sqeedledob

Request Info

I've been getting some DMs about my requests so hopefully this will clear things up! Commissions are always more of a priority than requests, and people who Donate to my Ko-Fi are my second priority. Requests will be completed at my leisure.

Primary Requests: CLOSED

Primary requests are in my typical style and can range from concept art to simple illustrations. These requests are actually colored and finished to varying stages just depending on how I'm feeling. I try not to spend more than a week on a request but if I'm really vibing with it, I'll probably finish it

Examples of what you can expect for a primary request

Sketch/Ask Box Requests: OPEN

Sketch requests take me a max of 20 minutes and I usually use them as a means of warming up. So if you'd rather quick art of an OC or character instead of something that could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, this is the way to go! These are only accepted through the Ask Box and MUST include a reference!

Examples of what you can expect for a Sketch/Ask Box

Below the cut are rules/expectations for requests, thank you guys for reading!

Also because a few people had asked for this, I am going to link my Ko-fi. There's no pressure to tip, I do all of this for fun, but if you want to I won't stop u! xD [Click here for da Ko-Fi]

PRIMARY REQUEST RULES

This is a request, not a commission. I will take the requester's input in mind when drawing, but I will not do revisions

Any fandom, cross over, and oc is welcome. I will do my best to characterize/draw them even if I'm not into the fandom myself, and you might just introduce me to my new favorite show/book!

NSFW requests are allowed, however keep in mind:

- I WILL NOT draw beastiality/Zoophilia - I WILL NOT draw Loli/Lolita or anything related to CP - I WILL NOT draw Furry NSFW. I have nothing against furries, furry NSFW just personally makes me uncomfortable and I do not like looking at it much less drawing it (this includes Ponies) - I WILL NOT draw anything for a franchise that is directed toward younger audiences, ie: anything rated PG or TV Y7 (PG-13 is Acceptable, DEPENDING ON THE FRANCHISE. ie: Marvel) - I WILL NOT draw Non/Dub Con, or anything that would cause someone to use the Dead Dove tag - I WILL NOT draw irl people in NSFW situations, ie Youtubers, Streamers, etc. Fictional Characters only IF A REQUEST SHOULD MAKE ME UNCOMORTABLE I fully reserve the right to Deny it, even if it is not on this list

If you do make an NSFW request, I will make a SFW version to post and send you the NSFW privately. I try to limit how much NSFW I share on this account

I can draw anything from landscapes to robots, humans to creatures. (Just cause I won't draw NSFW of furries or Ponies doesn't mean I won't do SFW art of them!) I fully enjoy testing the bounds of my artistic abilities and I invite people to help me challenge them!

Humans, robots, furries, dragons, anything. Put anything in here.

And to reiterate: Primary requests can take a while, especially since my queue is pretty long right now! I will make another post when my Queue opens up a bit!

In progress (Commissions): Tank (Color Picking) Simon (Line Art Clean Up) Wolfie (Sketch) Surplus (Sketch) Beth (Sketch) In Queue, not started (in order): @frlituj @jessica199616 @we-dont-talk-about-potato-nonono @lovablenatsume @princeasimdiya12 @airfriedfruitcake @hallwriteblr

Sketch/Ask Box Requests

This is a quick request to help me warm up and will usually take max 20 minutes. So it'll be fast/messy!

Any fandom, cross over, and oc is welcome. I will do my best to characterize/draw them even if I'm not into the fandom myself, and you might just introduce me to my new favorite show/book!

NSFW requests are not allowed for this one, just so I can keep it simple and quick without having to put too much thought into it

Humans, robots, furries, dragons, anything. Put anything in here.

[fluffykitteninabox]

Season 6 intro analysis (that somehow turned into a Hawks rant, sorry about that):

So the new intro looks amazing.

Everyone is shaded like All Might and i wonder if that's supposed to mean something..

also this is like poorly written and stuff because I'm not good at this kind thing. I call it analysis but it's more me trying to stitch my thoughts together and probably failing. If someone wants to add things to make it more coherent or complete destroy my stupid theories they can...

Also also tumblr is doing that thing again where it posts my unfinished drafts but at least this time it's almost done so I'll just edit it like this instead of deleting it

ALSO ALSO ALSO SPOILERS FOR ANIME ONLY WATCHERS I GUESS (because only one episode is out at the moment and I talk about stuff that'll be in future episodes)

Am I doing this right? Should I tag season 6 spoilers if the episode is not out yet? Or is it still considered manga spoiler?

The way All Might is drawn is supposed to represent the old style comic books, and the contrast between him and the other characters shows how he's kind of an unreachable ideal.

This intro looks more like those old style comic books with the style of animation they chose. There's even shots that are divided like manga panels and there's words used as sound effects like "thud" and "rrmmmbll" for the shaking ground and "boom" for Bakugou's explosions

I mean look at the very first shot and tell me this doesn't look like an old comic book to you:

Look at this dramatic shading:

I wanted to say that the use of this type of shading maybe shows how our heroes are getting closer to that ideal that All Might represents (specifically I'm talking about the main trio).

But they show a lot of other characters with the same shading, including Hawks and Endeavor, who are nothing like All Might.

I read somewhere (i don't remember who wrote it but i think it was someone here on tumblr) that in my hero academia there's this idea of the passing of the torch from the older generation to the newer one. And that All Might and AFO both represent how heroes and villains were in old comic books. There's more of a black and white morality. Good vs pure evil. And that Deku and Tomura represent the new generation where the line of good and evil is more blurred.

I'm not explaining it well but i hope you get the point.

So maybe the All Might type shading is supposed to represent them getting closer to him, but in a bad way??

The heroes are the ones initiating the violence in this arc. And I'm not saying this is a bad thing, they need to stop the potato bastard after all. But they abuse their power and try to solve a problem that is in the grey zone with black and white morality. I'm talking about Hawks here (yes others abuse their power too but this is like the big thing that happens in this arc so I'm using it as an example).

Heroes aren't supposed to kill, and yet Hawks murders Twice because he is the hero and Twice is the villain. He justifies it by saying it's for the greater good and that Twice was too dangerous to be left alive, but the audience knows that that's bullshit. Or at least the ones with a brain know!

Twice is not "pure evil", he's anything but that. If he hadn't died he would probably be the easiest LOV member to save because he doesn't want to be a villain. Twice didn't have a personal motivation for revenge. All he wanted was companionship and for the world to not treat him like shit. You would just need to show him proof that you wanted to help him get rehabilitated and the most important part, extend the offer for help to his friends.

It would have been literally so easy!

But Hawks chooses not to do that and instead stabs an unarmed person in the back while he was trying to run away.

So yeah my conclusion is that the shading represents the characters acting with that black and white morality mindset that i mentioned above. They're taking steps backwards into the past in a way, by allowing the labels of hero and villain to cloud their judgment.

But at some point in the intro the dramatic shading stops and the rest uses the normal animation we usually see in the show. A bit like the gif i used above that transitions from the vintage style logo to the new one.

That's also when we start seeing group shots instead of characters standing alone. Kind of how after All Might's retirement heroes started working in teams. No one person can solve the problem but if they work together they can.

Maybe that's them realising that the way they were handling things was not working so it's time to try something new.

I want to emphasise this shot of the kids taken straight from the manga:

Again because old generation passing the torch to the new generation and all that. Our kids have spent the past 5 seasons learning and growing and now they'll become greater heroes than the ones that came before them. They represent the future.

Also I'm doing this completely out of order since tumblr decided to be a little shit today. I want to go back to this shot i used in the beginning but this is a few seconds after:

Something something about them coming out of the shadows, and looking all determined like that. Shonen protagonist mid battle energy boost because they thought about their friends (maybe). It still looks stylized because of the colours but the shading is less dramatic now.

There's one last thing I want to mention. There's this one shot that stands out apart from all the rest:

Dabi looks... blurry for some reason. His colors bleed outside the lines. It's kind of like when you use too much water with watercolors and it starts spreading everywhere without control.

Literally everything else in this intro looks super crisp and HD except him. But it's not in a bad way like usual. Bones has a habit of fucking up Dabi's design, but this looks more like a stylistic choice.

I don't know exactly what this is supposed to symbolise. Maybe the fact that he feels separate from everyone else because his real self is dead to the world. Or maybe it's that thing i read somewhere (again I don't remember who wrote this sorry) Dabi is a character that is stuck in the past,so maybe that has something to do with it. I don't know... someone with better skills at analysing stuff like this can maybe figure it out.

[darkling-er]

the ephemeral radio. joshua crane investigates a town filled with ghosts of the past, present and future. though one can almost find proof of the non-existence of the paranormal, the little town is the exception for it.

content warning for the entire story: mention of child abuse, mental illness, violence, discussion of suicide, drug use, cadaver and gore.

[masterpost]

Casette no.I. [1K]

Silence lays heavily on the small manx town of Ephemeral. The streetlamps, that look a lot like old gas lamps, but since then renovated to be electrical, are illuminating the town square. There's not a single soul outside, not after the disappearance of Margarethe Shelley.

It's past midnight, as the clock on the library tower says, and as such as this time means that the teenagers and the odd folk of Ephemeral are intently listening to their radios.

"Local police announced they're still on the lookout for the beast that has been spreading fear throughout the entire town. And that has claimed four victims since Friday night.

Authorities asked to remain indoors until the creature has been captured and the curfew is lifted.

You're listening to 102.3, the Ephemeral Frequency, all night, every night." The calming, yet eerie voice of the Host announces his intro for the night. A soft and short tune follows, as they usually do in podcasts and radio stations, and then the Host continues.

"Unfortunately, against the usual method, you need to leave a message for now, if you have any stories to tell about your encounters with the supernatural. Because tonight I have prepared something different for you. We have a very special guest joining us tonight, basically a celebrity since her disappearance from town."

The man says with an excited voice into the microphone as he hangs up an incoming call to the radio. He looks at the woman infront of him, bound to the wooden chair by ropes.

"Margarethe Shelley, an outsider, not so long ago, am I correct?"

"What is this?! Why am I here?!" The young woman answers in a panicked voice, just woken up from her forced dream. She can barely remember where she was or how she got here. She tries against her bonds but to no avail.

The Host doesn't even acknowledge her existence as he continues his monologue.

"Say hello to the audience, Margarethe."

Of course the young woman doesn't reply. She remembers the man from somewhere, but she can't quiet put a finger on it. She barely lived in this town anyway, only arrived a couple of months ago. Her employer sent her there to investigate the strange phenomenas, that's been rumored to happen around this strange old town.

"You know, Margarethe, there has been a lot of speculations about what has really brought you to Ephemeral. No one knows exactly for sure what you were doing here or why, not even our dear mayor, but there have been a lot of theories and rumors."

She scoffs, her blonde hair falling into her face as she angrily replies.

"There's no mystery. I'm only here because of my work. I was doing renovations of old books in the local library."

"Oh is that right?" The man counters quickly with a mocking tone. "The librarian didn't know anything about this mystery renovation of yours."

"My employer is someone else." She bites back bitterly.

"And whom might that be?"

"That's confidential." She says and there's a couple seconds of silence between the two.

The Host smiles and it scares the woman.

"Of course, I understand... yet people have wondered when you left so suddenly, without any warning. Even missing person posters have been put up all over town."

"I wasn't missing." She replies shortly, still there's a sudden change in her voice. No more vice, no more bitterness, only sadness.

The Host knows the reason and he smiles with a grin and continues.

"Oooh, I know. But there have been other missing person reports. Children, barely old enough to leave their house by their own."

"I've had nothing to do with that, please. I'm begging you... I was going to go home to my family, they're surely missing me by now, if I don't return-"

"But of course your family can be glad, because you're not really missing. Unlike the children, brutally attacked and murdered by some beast."

There's silence again before a few tears slide down on the woman's cheeks.

"Please." Is her only reply.

The Host opens his desks' drawer and pulls out a silver revolver, already loaded and he points it at Miss Shelley. She sobs as she closes her eyes.

"If there's anyone listening, come to the radio station please, I'm begging you-"

"Of course, but the children were begging as well, I bet." The Host replies coldly without emotion.

The room is suddenly illuminated, not only by the few neon signs, but the moon as well.

"What's happening?!" An afraid shriek leaves the woman as she starts to shake in the chair, her whole body feeling like it's on fire.

"Margarethe, thank you for being here tonight. This month's celebrity in Ephemeral. We wish you safe travels home... the raining has stopped, the weather is clearing and we featured Miss Margarethe Shelley on The Ephemeral Frequency. We'll be right back, stay tuned."

XXX the radio remained silent for almost an entire minute, as the music was cut off suddenly - note, by J.C.

"We heard from the authorities, and the creature has finally been captured. Our next song is dedicated to them.

The creature has been identified as a wolf, and has been brought down by our brave officers. The victims of this creature are forever in our memories and we keep their families in our thoughts.

I suggest, my dear listeners, you stay inside tonight, though it stopped raining and the last full moon of august is brightly shining...

You know what they say... if there is one wolf, there is usually more around the area.

You have been listening to the Ephemeral Frequency, I'm your Host, and as always, I'll be here for you all night, every night."

tag: @seldomabsent

[frangipanidownunder]

(1/2) There has been some *next level* great fic published recently. Honestly, I feel intimidated to write anything new because nothing I could produce will ever be able to measure up to the talent of some of the authors I'm reading. On the other hand, I see fic that is exactly the opposite. Fics whose authors have admitted are written with little to no thought or effort, but that get reblogged and liked ad nauseum because of "who" the author is and/or they tag tons of people.

(2/2) I feel like my writing falls somewhere in the middle, but because I'm not a popular blogger I don't seem to be able to build a bigger audience, and I don't feel comfortable tagging people that I don't know personally. Do you have any advice about how to stay motivated to keep writing, when I'm not confident that my writing will ever be as good as the good fic is, or that it really "fits in" anywhere? I feel rather discouraged about it and I haven't written anything in weeks as a result.

Hey there gorgeous! This is a long answer, so there’s a cut, sorry!

I hear you and feel you and see you. And, I’m sorry to say, I don’t have any magic words of wisdom that will instantly fix this. Art is so subjective plus social media is like any club where there will be groups of people who’ve been around longer and have built long-term relationships, some who are brand new and walk right in with confidence, finding their place straight away, then there are the long-termers who are a bit more reserved or only come out to play sometimes. It’s the heirarchy of life.

I will say up front though, that I don’t believe there isn’t a place for your fic here. It will fit in somewhere! This fandom has generated such a breadth of fic from the fluffiest of fluff to the ickiest of ick that there is bound to be someone out there who loves what you write. The trick is to try to love it yourself too! And that’s hard. Creativity comes with great freedom and a heavy burden - our old friend self-doubt.

So, to push back against your point about intimidation, please don’t fall into that headspace. There isn’t a writer on here who doesn’t doubt their own ability. There isn’t a published original fic author who doesn’t doubt their own ability. It comes with the turf. You have to accept that your writing is unique and that comparing it to others’ styles and fic is just going to wear you down. It’s not productive and won’t make your writing any better. That’s not to say you shouldn’t look at ‘good’ fic and work out why it is elevated - we all have our personal preferences. Is it the prose? The plot? The pacing? The characterisation? Study the quality writing and try to think about the reasons it works so that your own writing will improve.

This fandom is still eager to read and there has been a ton of fic produced over the last month, including some newbies and oldies who’ve published new writing. If you have a story to tell, you should tell it. I find that stories bang at your brain until they’re let out. Don’t do yourself an injury for fear of never being seen. Writing for yourself is your first job. All writers to do that.

Validation is what we seek, though. Through likes and comments and reblogs. Otherwise, what are we publishing our work for? Yes, we write for ourselves, but we publish for the consumer. So, I understand it can be demoralising when your fic doesn’t do well in terms of notes. How do you know if anybody likes your stuff? It’s frustrating. There are some seriously under-rated writers on this site, who turn out amazing words, but their fic can sometimes be passed over for reasons unknown to me.

However, I’m probably not the best one to advise on this. My own fic has never really been consistently popular. I generally don’t reblog my own work and I don’t tag other bloggers unless specifically requested. Building a base here is a long road for most writers. We aren’t publishing pretty art or amazing gifs. Words tend to look boring on the page and require a commitment when people are time-poor. I started out by entering challenges and by reblogging, commenting and sending asks to those writers I admired. I DMd writers I thought I could connect with and took things quite slowly. I’ve been here for three years, posting regular stories but my follower count isn’t that huge. Maybe that’s something you can do while you’re drafting your next fic? Reblog the stuff you love, work out why you love it, make comments and send that author an ask (not on anon). Sending praise feels as good as receiving it. And other people notice that kindness too!

I am hosting another couple of workshops before the end of the year and if you’re available, you are more than welcome to attend. They are friendly, fun and encouraging. You might turn out some surprising writing and then you get to tag the other writers who participate because that’s how these things work. 😊

I hope this helps a little. There is no one answer to this age-old question. Personal taste is what it is. Fifty Shades of Grey was a huge best-seller. It’s not great writing, but people bought it in droves. I don’t understand the popularity of Jodie Picoult or Danielle Steel or Wilbur Smith but they sell stacks of books. Who the hell is Drake and why does his music do well? What about the Kardashians? Famous for what - yet people watch their show and buy their handbags. 

With fanfic, there’s good and there’s bad and there’s everything in between and we are not here to tell people what they should read and reblog and what they shouldn’t. That’s the beauty of our fandom. There really is something for everyone from drabbles to novel-length, slash to romance; but that something might not be popular. You know, people sometimes just want to read a story that makes them feel good and smut and fluff (the most popular genres on Tumblr as far as I can see) provide that comfort so, if your writing isn’t in either of those genres, don’t despair. There’s likely still an audience for you. They might just be a little more discerning or not on here as often or might be jumping up and down saying ‘ooh, that’s just like me!’

If you’re brave, come off anon and send out those asks to your faves. Join us at the next workshop (follow @just-fic-already for the details) and just write!

Take care, lovely. Thanks for swinging by. 💜

[abalonetea]

Congratulations!!! 800 followers?? That's HUGE!! You deserve everyone and more!!! I'm so proud of you and I'm so happy to call you my mutual and my friend. :) You go girl!!! For the celebration, I'd like to request the AU ramble, please. May I ask for a Damatys AU? I feel like Bolte and Emery would really get along because they are always fighting for something, but I'm curious to see your thoughts. Congratulations again!!

thank you so much! it means the world to me that i’m able to share my work with so many people, and to have met so many cool people like you! and! of course! i adore everything that i know about Damatys so far….so behold, my attempt at a Damatys au!

*Red will eat anything and everything that Ava’lyn puts in front of him, no matter the flavor combination. and if food is available, Bolte will happily cook with Ava’lyn, and maybe even suggest some other combinations that might be a touch more palatable to a broader audience?

*side note with that, because nothing Ava’lyn makes could be too sweet for Red. he has a horrendous sweet tooth. those garlic honey cookies? yeah, he loves though. 

*Red adores the creatures that live in Damatys. he can’t tell you a lot about them and, honestly, doesn’t even know the proper name for them all. but he’s just an all around animal person, and thinks that even the more violent ones, you know, they deserve a chance at a good life too.

*Locke on the other hand knows everything there is to know about a near endless amount of creatures. he loves them! he loves them! and he loves getting Blue to read him books about animals! 

*Emery and Bolte meet when they’re in their teenage years. Red’s a little older than they are, and probably working at the time. they don’t hit it off right away - Bolte doesn’t give trust easily, and in his experience, everyone’s out for getting themselves into better straights.

*they meet up with each other periodically. that happens when you’re both growing up on the streets in the same place. eventually Red happens to be there at the same time, and he takes an instant liking to her. the way he sees it, people got to stick together if they want half a chance of coming out alright? so Red slides food or gold her way when he can, and they sort of just. try to make it through life together.

*as Bolte realizes that Emery’s not going away and not going to try and bring him or Red down, the two of them start getting along way more. there are very, very few people in the world that Bolte cares about, but she’s one of them.

*Jaxon and Locke are really good friends. they probably didn’t meet until they were both older, and they bound over a shared enthusiasm for the world and a lot of needless energy. whenever Blue is busy or too tired to keep up with Locke, he can be found doing something with Jaxon.

*Locke probably shows Jaxon how to paint, and even though Jaxon is better at putting together pictures that make sense, it never bothers Locke. he paints because it’s enjoyable, no matter his skill level at it

*Bolte first meets Diane when she gets too far apart from Aiden somehow, and of course he can’t just leave this kid out there? we’re going with a total au here, so let’s say that Bolte is one of the first people they meet up with, and he helps Diane get back to Aiden, and that’s that, folks. Aiden’s clearly lost and he’s got a child with him, and Bolte has a thing about kid’s, so

*that’s how Aiden and Diane get their first guide through Damatys

*i know that Aiden has no knowledge of weapons or things like that, and you might think that Bolte would try to change that but, no. Bolte treats it the same way as Red, who’s also not able to participate in battles. which is he just fights for them instead, because why would he want to make someone else deal with the consequences of a battle?

*Red loves going to the bar with Ava’lyn! they get into drinking contests a lot, and Bolte usually makes Emery come with him to collect her

*Locke does wonders for the more hurt, hardened characters. he’s great at bringing the lighter side out in people, and gets along very well with Aiden because of that. no amount of sulking can dissuade him, no, no, they’re going for a walk that doesn’t relate to all this saving the world nonsense!

*Blue doesn’t really have any clue about what’s going on. he’s only there because Locke decided to tag along after meeting Jaxon and Aiden, and where Locke goes, Blue goes. he’s also not really interested in learning about all the detailed nonsense? tragic backstory who? sorry kid, he’s not really interested in that, but? why not just listen to this joke, instead, or maybe come slip in a nap with him somewhere?

*that being said, this is an active choice Blue is making because he doesn’t like thinking about all the danger that Locke is putting himself into. if an actual fight or battle arises, Blue’s right there with all the rest. he just doesn’t want to hear about all this ultimatum and final moment stuff. call it blissful ignorance, if you want, he doesn’t really care

*Blue will read to Diane when he reads to Locke. Locke never minds hearing kids stories, so.

*Red also makes up stories to tell Diane, but he never reads books and always makes it up on the spot. don’t ask for repeats, because he can’t pull that off.

thank you for celebrating with me, friend!

[une-femme-de-lettres]

Hey, love ur blog, I'm thinking of creating a blog for fics and was wondering if you had any advice for a new writer? xx

First, thank you so much! :)

And second, oh my Gosh, I’ve never been asked thatbefore and I’m kind of new on Tumblr too so I don’t really know what to say butI’m gonna do my best. All these tips and advice are the things I learned from mypersonal experience as a writer on Tumblr

(Future me: okay, it turned out that I actuallyhad a LOT of things to say so sorry in advance for the long-ass reply…)

So first there are two sides to running awriting blog on Tumblr: the writing and the blogging.

Number one and most important is of coursethe writing part and for this I have a few pieces of advice to give. I can’t guaranteeyou that ALL these tips will work for you because it depends on you and the wayyou work, you sometimes have to start from there and figure out what works foryou. But again, these is what I figured out from my personal experience:

First advice: read. Like, when I say ‘read’,I mean ‘read A LOT’. You might already be doing that and keep it up, becausereading is what got me into writing in the first place and what allowed me to builda rich vocabulary and overall develop my writing skills (my literature classhelped me a little with that too…) That may be obvious but reading in thelanguage you want to write in is especially important if it’s not your nativelanguage (for example my native language is French but fanfiction helped meimprove hugely my English and now Ionly write in English.)

Again something that might be obvious butthe key is writing about what you like/love. Whether it’s a show, a book or amovie, if you love its story, characters and universe, it’ll be easier to writeabout it. And it’s very common for people to like a show/book/movie for like ayear and then they’re not so much interested in it anymore. And that’s totallyfine, don’t force yourself, if you don’t like the show/book/movie you’rewriting your fic for anymore, move on and focus on what you like.

Also, if you like a show or a movie forexample, and you want to write about it: watch it and re-watch it. This is howyou’re gonna get to know the characters you’re working with and get the overallfeel and atmosphere of the show/movie. And if it’s a book, reading it severaltimes will help you, unconsciously, replicate the author’s style. My examplehere is Supernatural. I spent two and a half months binge-watching the show andit is so long that I don’t really need to re-watch it. At the end, when I wasready and eager to start writing fics for this show, I had spent so much timewatching its characters (mostly Sam and Dean) that I was able to predict howthey would react to certain events and how they would speak and move during a scene.

That brings me to the next advice, whichis, if you don’t really know how to start writing, start with the dialogs (ifthere are some in your work of course). I’m gonna take my previous examplehere. Now that I’m done with Supernatural, all this character/atmosphere thingis in my head and when I’m writing, I’m literally picturing the scene, thecharacters and the dialogs as if I’m watching an episode. But sometimes you canhave this in mind but still not know how to start. That’s when the dialogs comein handy. When I’m in this situation and I have the whole scene pictured in myhead, I first write the dialogs, with an indication of who is talking, like ascript. Then around that, I start writing literally every character’s actionsand movements, then their feelings and thoughts. You don’t have to break itdown like that because once you’ve started writing something, if you’re feelinggood, you’re not gonna want to stop.

Another advice is just to write your ideasas they come. And when you have an idea, don’t let it go and write in somewhereto remember it. Keep a note book close to you so you can write in it at everymoment, especially when you’re lying in bed at night, trying to sleep. That’swhen most of my ideas and inspiration come so keep something to write your ideaon ‘cause trust me, you won’t remember it the next morning…

Also, regarding this whole idea thing: don’tforce yourself to work on one single thing if it’s not the way you like to work.By doing that you’re keeping yourself from doing what you actually would liketo do. And in the end it will prevent you from actually working on that singlething, because you won’t stop thinking about something else. So don’t be afraidto work on a few projects at a time and when you don’t feel like working onone, work on another one.

BUT, sometimes following this advice andworking on too much things at a time can cause complete chaos with unfinishedseries and barely started one-shots, trust me I know what I’m talking about… Soto help with that, you can set priorities, whether they’re based on thepopularity of a work or the time you started writing it. Telling yourself ‘thisstory is important, I have to work on it’ will either help you getting to actuallywork on it or making you realize you don’t want to work on this one, thuspushing you to write the thing you actually want to write.

And finally, there’s the problem of notknowing what to write and just not ‘wanting’ to write. If really your brain issaying ‘nah, I don’t wanna write, I just wanna stare at the blank page and theblinking cursor for the rest of the day’ but your heart is actually saying ‘butI want to write, I have so many good ideas.’ In that case, you have to forceyourself a little, because the hardest part is getting started. To fight this,set yourself a writing goal, like writing at least 500 words a day (that’s whatI do), I don’t guarantee it’ll work but it’s worth the try.

Okay, that was the –long-ass- first andmost important part, now it’s time to tackle the number two: blogging part. Inthat part, I’ll give you some tips to get known on Tumblr and build an audience.Once again, I’m not guaranteeing you that you’ll become famous by following thesebecause the biggest part of building and keeping your audience is your work (ifpeople like it, they’ll keep coming back for more).

With that out of the way, my first adviceis having an accessible blog. What I mean by that is that if people can easilynavigate through your blog and find your work, they’ll be more likely to wantto say and read more. Hence the critical importance of having a functioning Masterlist,for both desktop AND mobile (a good part of people is using Tumblr mobile toread). On desktop, you can make your Masterlist by creating a page that willshow under your description text on your blog. But that doesn’t work on the mobileapp so what you will want to do is create a Masterpost, which is basically atext post with your Masterlist in it. With this though you’ll have to reblog itregularly so it shows up on your feed and is quickly findable and accessible.

Your Masterlist will have to feature everyone of your works and also make people that are new on your blog want to readthese works. To do that, you Masterlist must be clear and organized. You cancategorize your works, list them in different and well-defined categories tohelp the read spot what stories they’re interested in.

When you list a work, you must first writeits title and put a link to its corresponding post (you can use the title andmake it clickable so it will bring the reader to this specific work). You alsohave to make it easy for the reader to identify what the story will be about,so that they can decide whether or not they want to read it. To do that, youcan write a quick summary next to the title and even add a few tags that detailfor example the pairing featured in the work, the genre of the work (is itangsty, fluffy, smutty?) or the its length (is it part of a series, is it aone-shot?) you can also indicate the approximate word count. And of mostimportantly you can specify the warnings, if there are any (graphic violence,explicit sexual content?) so the reader knows what to expect and if it’ssomething they don’t want to read, they don’t have to click the link and waitfor the page to charge to find out.

Talking about tags, you can and have to usethe tagging system on your posts so that your works are easily sortable andaccessible through the search function. That way, the reader can pick and find exactlywhat they want to read. Keep in mind that the more accessible your work is, thequicker readers will be able to find what they want and the more they’ll wantto read.

So now, the main issue is getting people toactually come to your blog. You can always rely on the Tumblr recommendationsbut I don’t think many people actually see/take time to go through them. So myadvice for that is like reading to write: follow to be followed. The more blogsyou follow, the better (to a certain extant). Let’s take an example, if youwrite for the Supernatural fandom, you certainly already follow Supernaturalthemed blogs. Not everyone does that but I do: when someone follows me, and ifI see in their description that they write, I’m gonna want to go and see whatthey have and if I like their work, I’m gonna follow them and maybe reblog afew of their works and my audience will maybe want to read more and follow themas well, and so on.

There is also a few blogs on Tumblr thatsometimes ask for more blogs to follow. The more blog you follow yourself, themore you’re likely to encounter this type of posts. Then you have to seize theopportunity. Don’t be ashamed to self-promote if your blog corresponds to theirarea of interest (they asked for it after all LOL…). You won’t be botheringthem if you reblog the post and link them to your Masterlist, that’s actuallywhat they want, and again, if your work is easy to find and they like it, they’llfollow…

By now, you may have got it, the key togetting known on Tumblr is interaction with other people. And the last advice I’llgive you is related to challenges. Writing challenges are a big thing on Tumblrand it allows writers to share their work on a larger scale, as many biggerblogs do these kind of challenges. So it’s another great way to get people tonotice you and it’s also a really fun thing to do.

To conclude I’d say that you have to bepatient, don’t be too greedy and don’t expect too many people to express theirlove and enjoyment, at least at first. They don’t always let you know, but ifpeople like your work and if you put effort into it, your audience will grow byitself and you will eventually get the recognition you deserve.

And most importantly, enjoy yourself. Iknow it can be frustrating working for hours on something, posting it and notgetting any feedback. But don’t forget that, first and foremost, you write foryourself, because you enjoy it and because you love sharing your ideas withother people. And remember that, in the end, your most fervent supporter isyourself.

[themadcapmathematician]

all i know abt transformers is the shia movie and the fact that darren criss plays one in the cartoons i think? should i get into transformers is what i'm asking

Oh god this is my favorite question. I’m not sure how to answer it but its my fave. Pull up a chair. I hope you’ve got some time on your hands.

The short answer: yes. You should at least give it a try. Transformers is a 30+ year old muti-media franchise that gets rebooted almost every 3 years so it basically has something interesting to offer almost any fan. If you end up not liking it that’s cool but there’s a lot to try before you decide.

The long answer is: yes you should and here’s why and here’s a rough idea of all the options you have to sample. I’m about to go on a long rant anon so you can check it out now or later or whatever but I’m just warning you ahead of time.

The basic Transformers plot (which I’m sure you know but I’m gonna go more in depth in a minute) is that a race of giant robot aliens who can turn into vehicles and other things have been engaged in a civil war that has lasted millions of years. This is the basic plot that all tf franchises spawn from although some explore slightly different subject matters. If that doesn’t appeal to you I mean there /might/ be a few other things you might find worth sticking around for because there’s just so fucking much of it, but you’re welcome to turn back now because that’s the basic things tf has to offer: giant robot aliens, cars and planes, fighting, some drama. Those are what tf is best at, with some variation.

It has a very active and long lived fan base and each section of the fan base is interested in different stuff with some crossover. There are people who literally only care about collecting the toys, people who wont try any other series except g1, people who only like the comics, etc. Etc. You’ll probably find people who like what you do pretty readily. If you like the toys there are toy forums and blogs. If you like the cartoons there are forums and blogs made for that too. If you like the comics, same. There’s a pretty active following of the comics and cartoon series on Tumblr alone; I would try searching the #maccadam tag since most tf activity has been moved there since the bay movies came out. Id also use the tf wiki liberally because it has pm all the information you’ll need to know about the fandom and the canon lore. There’s also plenty of fan fiction on Ao3 and ff.net if you’re into that and pm anyplace that hosts fan art has tf fan art.

Now there are several series, including comics, cartoons, the Michael bay films, the cartoon movie, spin off books, and video games. I’m gonna go over my personal favorites because I like and know them best but there are more than these if you’re interested in digging deeper.

(More under the cut)

G1: there are a lot of forms of what fans refer to as Generation 1 or G1 but if you live in the US its likely they’re talking about the very first cartoon series.

Summary: the autobots and the decepticons stripped their planet of resources and went looking for a new planet to continue surviving on. They both crashlanded on earth where they lay dormant for millions of years until conveniently awakened somewhere during the 1980s, where they continue their war all over again

Why you should try it: listen its cheesy as hell and full of nonsense plotlines and animation errors but not only is it good fun but at least watching an episode or two might give you a decent grasp on what spawned this enormous franchise in the first place.

G1 movie: this movie was a game changer. Its technically right in the middle of the g1 cartoon but it works as a standalone film too. while it has many trappings of the cartoon its better animated and has a more consistent and dramatic story.

Summary: Optimus Prime and Megatron fight, OP dies (yes he fucking DIES for the very first time. thousands of 10 year olds bawl their eyes out), Megatron gets mortally wounded, and the Matrix of Leadership (aka an autobot holy item/macguffin [this is the proto-cube btw]) has to choose a new leader.

Why you should try it: decent animation, classics lines, tons of 80s rock music, and it establishes a lot of tf conventions that would be carried over to all series that come after it.

Beast Wars: haha the 90s couldn’t be left out of the transformers fun, now could it? This was one of the first all-cg cartoon series in history and while its not much to look at nowadays, it was a big step in the 90s.

Summary: the series doesn’t center on Optimus Prime and Megatron but their decendants. The war is long over but some factions are starting to clash once again. Several members of these factions do the whole “crash land on earth while fighting” thing except they wake up during times before humans and instead of taking vehicle modes, they take animal forms, thus the name.

Why you should give it a try: it establishes the idea of Sparks for the first time, it has historical significance in the cgi realm, and it has a decent storyline with interesting characters. If you can muscle through the 90s-computer-animation look it might be the show for you!

Transformers: Animated: I dont think its a secret that this is one of my favorite tf series of all times. It was the first cartoon series I ever watched of tf and it also features my favorite toy line.

Summary: Optimus Prime is much less a war hero and more of a ..janitor really. He flunked out of the academy and spends his time repairing space bridges. One time during repairs though, they stumble across the Cube and just their luck, Megatron and some nearby cons are looking for it. They portal away to earth where they, you guessed it, crashland, until they’re awoken sometime in the future and go on adventures in futuristic Detroit.

Why you should give it a try: I like tfa’s art style and story and characterisation best tbh; Optimus is younger and more unsure of himself but also more earnest, with more visible baggage. The rest of his team feel like a ragtag band of misfits (which I have a weakness for no lie lmfao) who are still trying to find their place in this conflict and the future ahead of them. Sari is also one of the more beloved human companions and the show’s take on classics characters feels fresh and interesting, and the interpretation of the autobots and decepticons themselves is surprisingly nuanced.

Transformers: Prime: remember that 90s animation? Kiss that shit good bye my friend. This cgi is some beautiful shit. More than a few fans wish tfp is the art direction the movies had taken, storyline aside.

Summary: the autobots are already on earth, staking it out and fighting a more subdued sort of conflict with the cons. One day they get some human kids involved and stumble across some conspiracy shit and it all spirals out of control from there.

Why you should give it a try: great animation and atmosphere, gorgeous character designs, a solid interpretation go the characters, and it offers a more serious take on the story over all.

Rescue Bots: I’ve noticed this show doesn’t make the list a lot which is a shame? It has a much younger audience than any of then other series but its still quality and one of my fave tf series.

Summary: the ship of four non-combatants who were left in stasis before the war detect a transmission telling autobots to go to earth, so it…goes to earth. There they wake up on some island and are told they’ve gotta start building a repatoire with the native species…but they can’t reveal that they’re sentient aliens yet.

Why you should give it a try: ok ok, most of the series are made for 7-12 year olds with the teen and adult fans sort of in mind, this show…is a show made for pre-K kids, no joke. Its a lot less…murder-y, and this is especially saying something because it came out at the same time TFP did and in fact is supposed to take place in the same universe!

BUT, but it has a consistently well-written story and characterization, it addresses stuff I never thought it would, and its a nice break from the ridiculously high stakes of the other series. Honestly Rescue Bots is great and I wish more people talked about it because its a series totally worth watching, certainly as much as any of the others.

More Than Meets the Eye comics: there are a lot of comic series but so far this is my favorite one lol

Summary: the war is over, Optimus is done with everyone’s shit and splits the matrix in half, giving one to rodimus and they other to bumblebee. And what does roddy do with his newfound matrix half? Decide he’s going on a quest of course! And who better to go with than literally every unqualified misfit the autobot and neutral factions have to offer?

Why you should give it a try: ridiculous shenanigans, horror, drama, intrigue, strong characterisation, and a killer aesthetic. Damn it may not always give me what I want but its got a lot of exactly what I’m always looking for.

There are some video games (Fall of Cybertron, War For Cybertron, Transformers: Devastation), other comic series (Robots in Disguise, G1/UK comics), and the Robots in Disguise cartoon, however I don’t have a decent enough grasp on them to describe them super well I just know they’re pretty good and have had people recommend them to me. You’re welcome to try those as well of course.

Also if you’re into toy collecting or want to get into it there’s a lot of materials you can read and such but my personal advice is pretty simple:

1) go to walmart, target, a store that sells collectibles, a convention, or a garage sale

2) buy a cheap toy that you like. Don’t spend over like $20

3) decide if that was a fun experience or not and if you like having this toy or not

If you liked it enough to keep buying, then congrats, toy collecting might be right for you! Do your research, Don’t blow too much money too quickly, take it easy, have fun.

But yeah sorry this is really long but I do hope you consider giving transformers a try since I know I love it a lot and it really has a lot to offer. I hope this wasn’t like…a crazy response. That a crazy person might give. And that I didn’t scare you away or anything XS

the key is to try some stuff and have fun and if its not your thing that’s cool too! Have a chill night anon